Robbie Swinnerton serves up morsels from the foodiest city on the planet

Naka-Meguro

11/24/2013

Fantastic to see that the latest edition of Monocle Magazine features Chef Shinichiro Harakawa and his excellent little restaurant, Beard in Meguro.

We had no inkling of this – and nor, I suspect did he – when we dropped in for dinner last week. As usual, we had a really fine meal.

We nibbled on plump juicy jumbo olives until our first course arrived. Like all the dishes, the charcuterie platter is intended to be shared between two. It includes jambon cru, salami, pâté and a tranche of really good terrine – plus Harakawa's tasty home-made pickles (all made with vegetables from the Kamakura farmers' market).

As a main course, we shared the grilled duck breast, which came with lightly pan-fried whole negi onions and white beans.

Dessert was a choice between semifreddo or fruit with ice cream. Instead, I had a snifter of Vin Cuit. As always, it was a really excellent meal.

Harakawa is part of a new generation of Japanese chefs who have been inspired by the produce and easygoing ethos of California cooking – and by Alice Waters in particular.

It's not just that they use quality natural ingredients and seasonings to produce simple, satisfying food. They also recognize that the setting is just as important for nourishing the heart and spirit along with the taste buds and stomach.

Back in June, when I wrote up Yuri Nomura's restaurant, Eatrip in Harajuku – another place in a very similar vein – Shin-san had this to say: “It’s a complete atmosphere: good vibes, happy food, music, flowers, the staff, everything. Eatrip convinces me that a restaurant is not just what is on the plate: It is a space to share the moment together.”

You could say exactly the same about Beard.

This is the magazine cover: it's available here and there around Tokyo. Including, of course, at the Monocle Café in Yurakucho.

02/09/2013

Marinara at Seirinkan, in backstreet Naka-Meguro. Still one of the best in town.

As I wrote after it first opened (though nothing at all has changed):

Before the arrival of high-end pizza a few years back, the fabled Savoy was turning out premium pies from its wood-fired oven in the Naka-Meguro backstreets. The original eatery finally bit the dust this year, but has reincarnated just across the same alley with a curious retro look and calling itself Seirinkan.

Owner Susumu Kakinuma, Tokyo's original pizzaiolo, remains as antifashion and nongourmet as ever, resolutely producing only two varieties: marinara and margherita. They’re still just as excellent.

There’s a small counter on the ground floor where you can see him at work, or head up the cast-iron spiral stairs to dining rooms with funky secondhand furniture and retro-Soviet decor.

From my Japan Times 2007 year-end round-up (scroll down to the bottom). What I didn't mention then was that Seirinkan also serves various pasta and a range of basic antipasti. None of them are comparable in quality to the pizza.

09/07/2012

A few more photos of Beard, the excellent – and memorably named – little modern bistro/wine bar I introduced in my Japan Times column today. It's a great little place, and if I lived in the neighbourhood it would definitely be one of my default evening hangouts/Sunday brunch venues.

One nugget that never made it into print: originally, Harakawa-san was going to call his place Commons (from "common sense"), but changed his mind – I think it clashed with some other restaurant, not to mention the idea of Creative Commons: plus there was the the new 246 Common. Anyway, he told me he's had his beard for 15 years now, and it's *his look*. And as I wrote, it all makes sense once you've actually been there.

Beard. What sort of name is that for a restaurant, least of all one serving French-inflected food? And what chef would have the word daubed in orange paint across his front door, on the diagonal no less?

One with a quirky sense of humor, of course. And, obviously, one who sports facial hair.

Formerly a nondescript clothing store, it has been given a total makeover inside and out, with wood pillars rising to a high ceiling, a handsome back wall of red brick and some seriously eclectic decor. The trophy deer's head over the entrance to the restroom – or Pipi Room as the sign, also in orange paint, proclaims – is nothing compared with what you find on the other side of that same door.

Every Sunday morning, Harakawa comes in to cook one of the tastiest little brunch menus in town.

He roasts and blends his own granola.

He also whips up tasty mascarpone-based sourdough pancakes, which he serves with butter, a small pot of maple syrup and fresh fruit on the side.

For those with proper appetites, look no further than his superb open-faced piperade sandwich: He slices open a hearty bread roll and spreads it with a generous layer of the seared, marinated Mediterranean vegetables; on top of this he balances a thick slice of his excellent home-cured bacon and an egg fried sunny-side up, serving it with a small side salad and a garnish of basil leaves. It's outstanding.

Harakawa says Beard is "the kind of French bistro you'd find in North America, but transplanted to Naka-Meguro." It makes sense once you have met him and eaten his food.

Beard sits on its own in a quiet residential area close by the Meguro River but a considerable walk from the nearest main street and even further from the buzzy bright lights of Naka-Meguro.

It's as if he is aiming to create his own neighborhood where one does not yet exist. Who knows, that might happen. Harakawa has certainly put together the kind of easy-going, welcoming local bistro hangout that most people would love to have close by their homes.